Aims
To investigate the change in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), hypoglycaemia awareness and diabetes‐related distress in people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) using FreeStyle Libre (FSL) over a 2‐year follow‐up period.
Methods
FSL user data from U.K wide hospitals collected during routine clinical care were analysed. People living with T1D were categorised into four groups based on the duration of follow‐up. Group I (< 1 year, n = 6940), group II (1 to 1.5 years, n = 662), group III (1.5 to 2 years, n = 385), and group IV (> 2 years, n = 642). The t‐test was used to compare the baseline and follow‐up HbA1c, GOLD score (a measure of hypoglycaemia awareness) and diabetes‐related distress scale (DDS score) (quality of life measure).
Results
The study consisted of 16,834 people, with follow‐up data available for 8,629 participants. The change in HbA1c, GOLD and DDS score from baseline within the follow‐up sub‐groups (group I vs group II vs group III vs group IV) was HbA1c (−6 vs −6 vs −4 vs −4 mmol/mol; p < 0.001) (−0.55 vs −0.55 vs −0.37 vs −0.37 %), GOLD score (−0.31 vs −0.45 vs −0.26 vs −0.42; p < 0.0001 group I, II, IV and p 0.07 group III), and DDS score(−0.59 vs −0.58 vs −0.63 vs −0.50; p < 0.001), respectively.
Conclusions
In people with T1D, FSL use resulted in a sustained improvement in HbA1c, hypoglycaemia awareness and diabetes‐related distress for over two years.